What do you think?
Rate this book
If This World Were Mine
Four friends, all graduates of Hampton Institute, keep a collective journal they call "If This World Were Mine," and share their personal diaries each month at a gathering filled with humor, gossip, and affirmation. The four group members are as different as the seasons, yet they all share a love of one another. Yolanda, a media consultant, keeps it going on with a no-nonsense attitude and independence that are balanced by the theatrics of Riley, a former marketing executive whose marriage has reduced her to a "kept woman with kids." Computer engineer Dwight's anger at the world is offset by the compassion of Leland, a gay psychiatrist whose clients make him question why God ever invented sex.
But after five years, the once-strong bonds of friendship are weakening, and the group must handle challenges of work, lost love, and a stranger in their midst. As the group members confront their true feelings toward each other, resentments and long-held secrets surface, and the stability of the group begins to disintegrate. Is their past friendship strong enough to survive the future?
But after five years, the once-strong bonds of friendship are weakening, and the group must handle challenges of work, lost love, and a stranger in their midst. As the group members confront their true feelings toward each other, resentments and long-held secrets surface, and the stability of the group begins to disintegrate. Is their past friendship strong enough to survive the future?
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
23 people are currently reading
880 people want to read
About the author
E. Lynn Harris
47 books744 followersE. Lynn Harris was born in Flint, Michigan and raised, along with three sisters, in Little Rock, Arkansas. He attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville where he was the school's first black yearbook editor, the first black male Razorbacks cheerleader, and the president of his fraternity. He graduated with honors with a degree in journalism.
Harris sold computers for IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and AT&T for thirteen years while living in Dallas, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. He finally quit his sales job to write his first novel, Invisible Life, and, failing to find a publisher, he published it himself in 1991 and sold it mostly at black-owned bookstores, beauty salons, and book clubs before he was "discovered" by Anchor Books. Anchor published Invisible Life as a trade paperback in 1994, and thus his career as an author officially began.
Invisible Life was followed by Just As I Am (1994), And This Too Shall Pass (1996), If This World Were Mine (1997), Abide with Me (1999), Not A Day Goes By (2000), Any Way the Wind Blows (2001), A Love of My Own (2002), I Say A Little Prayer (2006), Just Too Good To Be True (2008), Basketball Jones(2009), and Mama Dearest(2009),all published by Doubleday, and In My Father's House(2010), published by St. Martin's Press. Ten of Harris's novels hit the New York Times bestseller list, and his books have also appeared on the bestseller lists of the Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. In 2003, Harris published his first work of nonfiction, a memoir entitled What Becomes of the Brokenhearted, which was also a New York Times bestseller. Today, there are more than four million copies of his books in print.
Harris's writing also appeared in Essence, Washington Post Sunday Magazine, and Sports Illustrated, as well as in the award-winning anthology Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America, Go The Way Your Blood Beats. His novella, "Money Can't Buy Me Love" was published in Got To Be Real: Four Original Love Stories. Freedom in This Village, a collection of short stories edited by Harris, was released in the fall of 2004. His short fiction appeared in Gumbo: A Celebration of African American Writers (Harlem Moon), a 2002 collection he edited with writer Marita Golden.
Harris won numerous accolades and prizes for his work. Just As I Am was awarded the Novel of the Year Prize by the Blackboard African-American Bestsellers, Inc. If This World Were Mine was nominated for a NAACP Image Award and won the James Baldwin Award for Literary Excellence. Abide with Me was also nominated for a NAACP Image Award. His anthology Freedom in this Village won the Lambda Literary Award in 2005. In 1999, the University of Arkansas honored Harris with a Citation of Distinguished Alumni for outstanding professional achievement, and in October 2000 he was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. He was named to Ebony's "Most Intriguing Blacks" list, Out Magazine's "Out 100" list, New York Magazine's "Gay Power 101" list, and Savoy's "100 Leaders and Heroes in Black America" list. Other honors included the Sprague Todes Literary Award, the Harvey Milk Honorary Diploma, and The Silas Hunt Award for Outstanding Achievement from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
Harris was a member of the Board of Directors of the Hurston/Wright Foundation and the Evidence Dance Company. He was the founder of the E. Lynn Harris Better Days Foundation, a nonprofit company that provides support to aspiring writers and artists.
E. Lynn Harris passed away in 2009.
http://us.macmillan.com/inmyfathersho...
Harris sold computers for IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and AT&T for thirteen years while living in Dallas, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. He finally quit his sales job to write his first novel, Invisible Life, and, failing to find a publisher, he published it himself in 1991 and sold it mostly at black-owned bookstores, beauty salons, and book clubs before he was "discovered" by Anchor Books. Anchor published Invisible Life as a trade paperback in 1994, and thus his career as an author officially began.
Invisible Life was followed by Just As I Am (1994), And This Too Shall Pass (1996), If This World Were Mine (1997), Abide with Me (1999), Not A Day Goes By (2000), Any Way the Wind Blows (2001), A Love of My Own (2002), I Say A Little Prayer (2006), Just Too Good To Be True (2008), Basketball Jones(2009), and Mama Dearest(2009),all published by Doubleday, and In My Father's House(2010), published by St. Martin's Press. Ten of Harris's novels hit the New York Times bestseller list, and his books have also appeared on the bestseller lists of the Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. In 2003, Harris published his first work of nonfiction, a memoir entitled What Becomes of the Brokenhearted, which was also a New York Times bestseller. Today, there are more than four million copies of his books in print.
Harris's writing also appeared in Essence, Washington Post Sunday Magazine, and Sports Illustrated, as well as in the award-winning anthology Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America, Go The Way Your Blood Beats. His novella, "Money Can't Buy Me Love" was published in Got To Be Real: Four Original Love Stories. Freedom in This Village, a collection of short stories edited by Harris, was released in the fall of 2004. His short fiction appeared in Gumbo: A Celebration of African American Writers (Harlem Moon), a 2002 collection he edited with writer Marita Golden.
Harris won numerous accolades and prizes for his work. Just As I Am was awarded the Novel of the Year Prize by the Blackboard African-American Bestsellers, Inc. If This World Were Mine was nominated for a NAACP Image Award and won the James Baldwin Award for Literary Excellence. Abide with Me was also nominated for a NAACP Image Award. His anthology Freedom in this Village won the Lambda Literary Award in 2005. In 1999, the University of Arkansas honored Harris with a Citation of Distinguished Alumni for outstanding professional achievement, and in October 2000 he was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. He was named to Ebony's "Most Intriguing Blacks" list, Out Magazine's "Out 100" list, New York Magazine's "Gay Power 101" list, and Savoy's "100 Leaders and Heroes in Black America" list. Other honors included the Sprague Todes Literary Award, the Harvey Milk Honorary Diploma, and The Silas Hunt Award for Outstanding Achievement from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
Harris was a member of the Board of Directors of the Hurston/Wright Foundation and the Evidence Dance Company. He was the founder of the E. Lynn Harris Better Days Foundation, a nonprofit company that provides support to aspiring writers and artists.
E. Lynn Harris passed away in 2009.
http://us.macmillan.com/inmyfathersho...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
July 22, 2024
Love his work, like always.
August 29, 2018
This was another one of my summer reads. And what a fun one! The characters are what drove this book. The premise was iffy and didn't GRAB me, but Mr. Harris does an awesome job of pulling you in with colorful narrators and slick dialogue.
Talented brother, Mr. Harris. Definitely gives writers like myself a level to aspire to.
Talented brother, Mr. Harris. Definitely gives writers like myself a level to aspire to.
October 7, 2014
This book was just bad. It was high-tilt soap-opera drama throughout. The characters are all educated professionals who behave like high school kids. The conversations were stilted, the idea of a "journal reading group" is hokey and ridiculous.
Not only are the characters and set up silly, but the plot development is full of annoying conveniences: Leland's patient happens to be John's victim AND he spots John on the street; Monty is John's occasionally butt-buddy AND is Yolanda's new client; and in the end, none of it is really John's fault because he was molested as a kid? C'mon why not jump back a generation and we can see that Uncle Mac was molested too? Or how about how over the top Riley becomes becuase her 19 year old daughter HAS A BOYFRIEND. This does not seem like a reason to yank a poor girl out of college. Oh yeah, and Dwight has a flashback about his brother's death just seconds before he has a chance to redeem himself by saving a drowning boy. Ugh, ugh, ugh. Nothing here was any good. The characters were silly, the plot was god-awful, and the whole thing was just a waste of time.
I know that Harris tried to present some serious issues (race and homosexuality), but it did not feel as if he was presenting any of it in a serious way. I felt like I was watching a soap opera. Overall, there is nothing about this book that I would recommend.
Not only are the characters and set up silly, but the plot development is full of annoying conveniences: Leland's patient happens to be John's victim AND he spots John on the street; Monty is John's occasionally butt-buddy AND is Yolanda's new client; and in the end, none of it is really John's fault because he was molested as a kid? C'mon why not jump back a generation and we can see that Uncle Mac was molested too? Or how about how over the top Riley becomes becuase her 19 year old daughter HAS A BOYFRIEND. This does not seem like a reason to yank a poor girl out of college. Oh yeah, and Dwight has a flashback about his brother's death just seconds before he has a chance to redeem himself by saving a drowning boy. Ugh, ugh, ugh. Nothing here was any good. The characters were silly, the plot was god-awful, and the whole thing was just a waste of time.
I know that Harris tried to present some serious issues (race and homosexuality), but it did not feel as if he was presenting any of it in a serious way. I felt like I was watching a soap opera. Overall, there is nothing about this book that I would recommend.
October 5, 2023
Definitely amongst the weakest of E Lynn’s books 🤢
But it was nice to see Raymond and Basil for a bit
But it was nice to see Raymond and Basil for a bit
March 22, 2015
This book is realistic. Also, It dives into the meaning of true friendship. True friendship can carry you through anything. It was an excellent book. Also, the character Yolanda "You Go Girl" I wish I had your strength of will.
July 25, 2010
This by far is my favorite of all of his books. I think creating a whole new group of characters freed him up to explore a little.
June 19, 2023
3.5 Stars. The writing wasn’t spectacular but the story and characters were interesting enough that it was easy to spend hours reading this book. I struggled with the undercurrent of biphobia throughout the novel, the willingness to only partially break out of restrictive understandings of Black same-gender loving men’s experiences, and . All in all, it was the kind of light, easy read I was looking for when I chose it but I wouldn’t recommend it.
July 25, 2025
This book came out in the 90's. The author was very popular. His books featured young, black professionals who lived well. It was unique back then. The story revolves around a group of Hampton University alumni in Chicago. The celebrities, fashion designers and hot restaurants of the time are all name dropped. The group is keeping a joint journal and individual journals and it's kind of awkward all the jumping around. People are hooking up and enjoying life. This is the book that introduced us to the "down-low". It's kind of dated now and the story is basically a soap opera, but it was a nice diversion.
August 14, 2018
If the world were mine it would run on good intentions, equality and love. Weed would be legal and being different would be encouraged. The more "different" you are..the better!
If The World Were Mine was such a good read for me. I believe I read it before, long long time ago but reading it, still felt like reading it for the first time. This book was ahead of it's time. I loved all of the characters and real growth they all had. Nothing about this story felt overly glorified like many urban fictions. It help truths, fears, dreams and I loved it. LGBT read forreal!
If The World Were Mine was such a good read for me. I believe I read it before, long long time ago but reading it, still felt like reading it for the first time. This book was ahead of it's time. I loved all of the characters and real growth they all had. Nothing about this story felt overly glorified like many urban fictions. It help truths, fears, dreams and I loved it. LGBT read forreal!
July 17, 2020
Amazing!
I read this book in 3 days. E Lynn has a way with words that Makes the reader feel like they are a part of the novel. The imagery is unreal. I cannot wait to read the next book! This book made me laugh, come to terms with things I didn’t even know I was dealing with, and cry all types of tears. Highly recommend this book!
I read this book in 3 days. E Lynn has a way with words that Makes the reader feel like they are a part of the novel. The imagery is unreal. I cannot wait to read the next book! This book made me laugh, come to terms with things I didn’t even know I was dealing with, and cry all types of tears. Highly recommend this book!
Read
January 31, 2017i liked the growth of the characters and i agreed with Dwight's perspective on racial issues which triggered my mind to think about how i view race.
the rate at which child molestation and abuse go hand in hand with gayism still scratches my mind.
November 12, 2018
it was a little slow to start, i actually thought about putting it down, but I kept going. Some of the passages felt as though they were written by white people attempting to sound black, but all-in-all I think it was a good recreational book.
June 11, 2022
The biphobia was insane!!! I hate this for men. Loving Riley and Selwyn coming back together, but damn that sounds like a nightmare. The only really really touching part for me was Dwight talking about Scooter. Dwight would deserve better but he's homophobic so sucks to suck.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 30, 2018
An interesting Black romantic novel.
June 9, 2019
Mediocre story. Not worth much effort.
March 15, 2022
I liked the book. I didn't like the end after Leland got out of the hospital.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 25, 2023
Excellent
I started with his first book and could not put it down. A excellent series of books.
E. Lynn Harris is one of my favorite writer.
I started with his first book and could not put it down. A excellent series of books.
E. Lynn Harris is one of my favorite writer.
July 28, 2009
E. Lynn Harris' books always seem to be about the same thing: really well-off, confident African Americans who live and love. This book is about the lives of four highly-educated, wealthy African Americans, and their problems, all of which are resolved by the end of the book. His treatment of gayness is really simplistic as well. Leland, the gay one, is a stable, supportive, intelligent psychiatrist, who was in a long relationship with a man who died of AIDS. Heartbroken, he has never looked for love and so, is lonely and completely devoted to his hag Yolanda. The other gay characters play out the same - committed, stable and drama-less or funny side characters, like Uncle Doc. Then there are the DL characters, Basil and Monty. They are womanizers who fool around with men when the time is right. The two have trailblazing lives, one a football god, the other a pop singer in a group, and Basil forswears the love of men when he meets Yolanda. He eventually succumbs to Monty's charms, and ends up, by the end of the book, seemingly trying to get together with a guy from his past who meant the world to him. He was also molested as a child. Of course. I think all this would work better as a soap opera on television. As a book with hundreds of pages, it hardly seems worth the effort. R.I.P. Mr. Harris. (In fairness, I have already read three of his novels. I just wished they were gayer.)
November 23, 2008
I received this book as a gift. The story was about friends in a journal writing group who rarely met, didn't seem to like each other nor interact very much. Presumably, they were all too consumed with their own pity parties. The stories that stood out were the wife who's husband was retreating from the family, the man with intense hatred toward white people and the lonely sad gay man.
Through most of the book we read about them going on in these situations that have been ongoing. Finally, at the end of the book they get tired of it all (as did I) and do something about it. Wow, guess what? Resolution! This book was too reliant on irony and "convenient" situations in the end to make an honest impact. And the gay storyline was ridiculous. A serious life and death situation was flippantly flipped off with a notorious catch phrase from "Sanford & Son."
Sorry. This was my last from ELH.
Through most of the book we read about them going on in these situations that have been ongoing. Finally, at the end of the book they get tired of it all (as did I) and do something about it. Wow, guess what? Resolution! This book was too reliant on irony and "convenient" situations in the end to make an honest impact. And the gay storyline was ridiculous. A serious life and death situation was flippantly flipped off with a notorious catch phrase from "Sanford & Son."
Sorry. This was my last from ELH.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2009
This was a crummy book. Plagued with garrulity I was never drawn into it. After page 150 this book was too long and I read through it waiting for the bait and hook that never came. I think one of the reasons why i didnt like it was there were far too many characters and not enough character development. I didnt care for Leland, Yolanda and John Basil but was more interested in Dwight and Riley's plight.
The storyline for the most part was predictable. You could tell who was hooking up with who. I found the authors style to be juvenile as well. Most of the time I felt like I was reading a high schoolers drama poured onto paper, even when he switched from journal entry to normal narrative.
Overall a big fat ...EH!
The storyline for the most part was predictable. You could tell who was hooking up with who. I found the authors style to be juvenile as well. Most of the time I felt like I was reading a high schoolers drama poured onto paper, even when he switched from journal entry to normal narrative.
Overall a big fat ...EH!
June 11, 2007
first time i picked up E Lynn Harris' book was when I was travelling from wellington to Auckland and suffering emotional damage from a certain someone. lol. I must say it did make me laugh and made me realise my problems arn't so bad after all.
It is rare to read a novel with African-American characters as refreshing as these. Harris keeps the dialogue lively and the action zipping along while fully developing story and characters. Ultimately both fun and moving, the book has something to impress nearly any reader."
It is rare to read a novel with African-American characters as refreshing as these. Harris keeps the dialogue lively and the action zipping along while fully developing story and characters. Ultimately both fun and moving, the book has something to impress nearly any reader."
March 9, 2016
Not my favorite by Harris, but a crucial read in understanding Basil's character arc of the course of his novels. Although I invested at first in the other characters and their friendship, a lot of the climax and resolution was predictable that read like watching a chick flick or ensemble comedy/melodrama. The best parts by far were the parts with Basil in them as well as the cameo by Raymond.
October 18, 2009
This book follows the lives of 4 youngish black people through their journals. Interesting because I didn't relate to a lot of it. Wondering if it is bc I am old or if we value different things. I probably gave it 3 stars because it didn't really make me feel good, but was well written.
December 26, 2011
If I could, I would give this book zero stars. I can't finish it. I was never drawn into the book. I found myself thinking 'I don't care about these people' and that was the point I knew I should stop reading it.
May 13, 2014
I really enjoyed this book. The only problem I had with this book is that it had so many characters and it the beginning it made it hard to keep up, but other than that this was really a great book. I loved the plot and the characters, once I got used to them.
June 16, 2014
What an inspiring story! It was a page turner from beginning to end. I really enjoyed it. It was emotionally touching. If you like books like this, you should also "Under the Peach Tree" by Charlay Marie.
Read
April 17, 2007WONDERFUL AND INTREGING. YOU WOULD NEVER GUESS WHO THE CONTINUATING CHARACTER IS AND WHY...UNLESS YOU HAVE READ HIS BOOKS. A MUST READ!
October 10, 2007
E. Lynn Harris knows he knows how to write! this whole series is just amazing...i feel like i know the characters for real
Read
March 1, 2009I have this book, but read it some time ago, but I am a fan of all of e. lynn harris books, all of them are good.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews